The disclosures herein relate generally to CD ROM drives and more particularly to placing a shroudless CD ROM drive in the footprint and volume of a standard floppy disc drive.
In multimedia notebook computers it is necessary to have a CD ROM. The CDs are very large and their drive modules have enlarged the standard notebook computer so as to accommodate them. The market requires the smallest notebook possible. Thus, there is an obvious conflict. Typically, these notebook CD ROM drive modules are removable from a large media bay and replaceable with a module that has a floppy drive in it. The floppy drive module is smaller than the CD ROM drive module because of the difference in size of their respective discs. The smaller floppy modules are fitted into the large media bay by housing the floppy drive in a dummy carrier of the same size as the CD module. Again, this makes the notebook computer larger than necessary.
Typical CD ROM drive modules have a sheet metal shroud that covers the entire CD drive and disc. The shroud is thick and the module also includes extension arms on the side of the drive which when operated, extend the disc out of the module to be replaced. Because of this extension, there is a large service loop in a cable that requires a dead space behind the unit. This requirement enlarges the CD module and packages a lot of air in the CD module.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus and a method for placing a full size CD ROM drive module in the footprint of a relatively smaller standard floppy disc drive module rather than vice versa as has been described. It is also highly desirable to provide for the CD ROM drive module and floppy drive module to be of substantially the same volume.